Komaru Castle

Komaru Castle 小丸城
Echizen, Fukui Prefecture, Japan
Remains of Komaru Castle's main gate
Komaru Castle 小丸城 Komaru Castle 小丸城
Coordinates	35°53′53″N 136°13′49″E
Type	Japanese castle
Site information
Open to the public	yes
Condition	Ruins
Site history
Built	1575
Built by	Sassa Narimasa
In use	Sengoku period
Demolished	1581

Komaru Castle (小丸城, Komaru-jō) was a Japanese castle located in what is now the city of Echizen Fukui Prefecture, in the Hokuriku region of Japan. Built in the Sengoku period by Sassa Narimasa, the ruins are now a Fukui Prefectural Historic Site.

History

Komaru Castle was established in 1575 Sassa Narimasa, one of Oda Nobunaga's generals. Along Maeda Toshiie and Fuwa Mitsuharu, he was charged with keeping the peace and suppressing the Ikkō-ikki in Echizen Province.

Komaru Castle was located on a small hill at the southern edge of the Fukui Plain. The inner bailey had stone ramparts and is thought to have had a donjon. A second and third bailey protected the inner citadel, and the whole was surrounded by moats and marsh. However, in 1581 Sassa Narimasa was awarded additional territories, and relocated to Etchū Province (current Toyama Prefecture), after leaving the unfinished Komaru Castle abandoned.

During excavations in 1932, the earthen foundations, part of the gate to the honmaru, the remains of the dry moat, a tower foundation, and some fragments of roof tiles were found. The roof tiles were of especial interest to historians, as an account was written on its reverse side about Maeda Toshiie's suppression of the Ikkō-ikki in Echizen by mass executions of followers.

References

• http://www.city.echizen.lg.jp/office/010/010/rakutabi/rakutabi_english.html
• https://archive.today/20130130061645/http://homepage2.nifty.com/mizuki55/hokuriku/etizensi.htm

Literature

• Schmorleitz, Morton S. (1974). Castles in Japan. Tokyo: Charles E. Tuttle Co. pp. 144–145. ISBN 978-0-8048-1102-6.
• Motoo, Hinago (1986). Japanese Castles. Tokyo: Kodansha. p. 200 pages. ISBN 978-0-87011-766-4.
• Mitchelhill, Jennifer (2004). Castles of the Samurai: Power and Beauty. Tokyo: Kodansha. p. 112 pages. ISBN 978-4-7700-2954-6.
• Turnbull, Stephen (2003). Japanese Castles 1540-1640. Osprey Publishing. p. 64 pages. ISBN 978-1-84176-429-0.